Grosset

Established in 1966 Polish Hill Vineyard is named after the nearby Hill River settlement established by Polish immigrants in the 1840s. The fully mature low- vigour vines are planted on a U-shaped ridge formation on poor  shaley slightly acidic soils with underlying slate and a topsoil crust of clay interspersed with shale. Vintage takes place in early April, normally a few  weeks later than Watervale. The free-run juice is cold settled for four days before being yeasted and fermented in closed stainless steel fermenters. The wines have incredible perfume and fruit purity, the lime/floral fruit profile balanced by a fine cut of acidity. This long-lived beautifully aromatic and concentrated wine does much to define great Clare Valley Riesling.

If the Polish Hill is power and intensity, the sub-regional Watervale Riesling resonates pure fruit with mouthwatering slatey acidity. The fruit derives from a hill top site with a high exposure to sunlight. The thin topsoils are red loams interspersed with shale over limestone and the vines are deeply rooted into slate/shale bedrock. The wine is vinified in the same manner as the Polish Hill Riesling. No pressings are used in the wine. Grosset says, "making Riesling is the purest form of winemaking our options are very restricted. No oak, no malo-lactic and usually no extended lees contact or grape-skin contact is employed. A disciplined winemaking approach is needed to retain the inherent fruit characters and expression of individual vineyard site."  Andrew Caillard MW, www.langtons.com.au